A record of my efforts to build a sustainable house and garden in Matsuyama, Japan

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Whittling down

After comparing estimates and plans from Fonte and Khome's, we decided to ask Khome's to continue planning.

Fonte make beautiful, solid houses with great attention to detail. Also their approach to customer care is very thorough and thoughtful. There are some complex matters to navigate and they are very helpful with that. However, these things necessarily come at a price, and even at the initial planning stage, Fonte's proposed house overran our budget and involved some very big compromises in terms of size and features. Ultimately we decided that we should forego some of the finer touches in favour of affordability and function.

The Khome's plan met most of our requirements for size, function, and price, with a design that fits the location well. We were very pleased to see something as well-thought out on the first draft.

Now we have to think carefully about what refinements will be necessary, and how important they are to us.